Brotherhood of Smash
by An Preson Peepul
Summary: When the galaxy is in peril, it's finest assemble under the flag of Master Hand to protect its citizens from danger. Together, the heroes of Smash City brave many dangers, from nightmares to pirates, but with the threat of a conspiracy hatched by their greatest enemies looming overhead, will they be able to stay united through it all?
1. The Welcoming Committee, Part 1

**Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure. Remember when I said I'd be back soon?**

**Oh how we laughed and laughed. Except I wasn't laughing. I've been busy slaving away right under the moon.**

**If it's your first time here, welcome. Before you click off, please read through everything I have to say first:**

**This is a sequel to my other fic, Brotherhood of Smash Origins, but since it's also a quasi-reboot, I'm going to try to keep this as self-contained as possible. You don't need to read Brotherhood of Smash Origins to understand what is going on (or, that was my intention when writing this. If you don't understand what's going on, then it won't be because you missed some important detail from the story before).**

**I do not own Super Smash Bros, or any of the properties related to Super Smash Bros. With that said, enjoy the show.**

* * *

Link had never been to Smash City before. A boy raised on one of the far-flung planets, he never had much need to visit the busiest city in the galaxy, and his master rarely spoke about planets other than their own. This was his first time here, so he didn't really have any expectations for life in the city.

That said, he hoped this wasn't what everyday life looked like for city folk.

BOOM!

The ground shook, as a massive explosion rang out over the streets. Above him, Link watched the large steel frame of a skyscraper rattle. The beams at the top swayed over the edge. Something popped. It was faint, but his ears, sharpened by the magical properties of the sword, picked it up. The frame gave one more groan, before it finally toppled, sending several steel beams hurtling toward the panicking citizens running through the streets.

Screams took to the air. With each passing second, the steel beams approached the people below faster and faster, threatening to crush any standing beneath. As it grew closer, a pink blur rushed in from below.

Sparks of electricity exploded outward from it. They writhed through the air like blue snakes, latching onto the buildings on either side of the street until there was a field of electricity hovering several hundred feet into the air, magnetic pulses rippling off the strands.

As the beams tumbled into the field, it stretched like a net. The beams slowed down. Sparks flared up from the field, glowing brighter and brighter until, at last, the net held, holding the beams over the crowd.

At first, the crowd didn't seem to know what to do. They stood around, watching in awe as Kirby kept the steel beams in the air with his electric net. So Link gave them a shove in the right direction.

"What are you doing?" he yelled. "Come on guys, get out of there!"

His words seemed to bring the crowd back to their senses. A mumble rose above them, and the people cleared out from the street. As Link watched them trickle away, he heard a deep thrum behind him. It was like the sound of a giant wasp, beating its wings as it tore through the air. He turned around.

Chucks of the road flew into his face. He raised his shield, and almost immediately he felt something heavy knock into it. Again and again, it rammed into his shield, tolling against the sturdy wood like a hammer on nails. His arm flared up in pain. He gritted his teeth, but he pushed through it. When the ringing stopped, he lowered his shield to sneak a peek at his attacker.

Several feet away, he saw what appeared to be a pair of turtles in green helmets draw back their arms. His eyes widened, and he put his shield back up just in time to catch another onslaught of small hammers. With each blow, his arm got weaker. He couldn't keep this up forever. Any moment now, he would give out.

A low rumble came from above. Link looked up just in time to see the net of sparks flicker away. With nothing to hold them in place, the steel beams started falling again. If they didn't get out of the way, he and the turtles would be squashed like insects.

One more hammer struck his shield, before the turtles took off. Finally with a moment to breathe, Link ran in the opposite direction. He dove behind a stone column at the entrance of one of the buildings. The steel beams crashed into the floor, kicking up a storm of dust.

As the dust swirled over the street, Link leaned against the wall. He heard a squeak beside him. When he glanced over, he found Kirby staring up at him, a shower of sparks pouring out from a hat atop his head. Seems they both had the same idea.

"So this is the welcoming committee, huh?" he said between breaths. "A bunch of evil hammer turtles?"

Kirby shrugged. Link groaned, and he slid further down the pillar. A cloud of dust swept in from behind them, and it settled on the floor, glistening in the light.

"Our first day on the job and we get cornered by a pair–"

He chanced a look outside. When he leaned back in, he looked despaired.

"A trio of evil turtles."

Kirby pouted, none too pleased about the situation either. Link rubbed his face. Then he turned back to Kirby.

"So, what's the plan?" he said.

Again, Kirby shrugged. "Poyo!"

"Right. You can't talk." Link looked around, like a kid with his hand in the candy jar. "Where are the others? Shouldn't they be helping us?"

Kirby glanced around. "Poyo?" was his reply.

He opened his mouth. The ground shook before he could say anything. Both of them leaned back out, just in time to see the top half of a building farther down break off and fall toward a small crowd fleeing through the street. They glanced back at the three hammer turtles, standing on the other end of the road.

Kirby tugged on his arm. Link looked down. Kirby met him with a pleading stare. His eyes flicked over to the hammer turtles, waiting out on the street. Link could only guess what he wanted to tell him.

"You want me to distract them so you can catch the building?"

Kirby nodded. Link glanced at the falling building in the distance, then back to the hammer turtles.

"I'll see what I can do."

Pulling himself back against the pillar, Link put his hand into his pocket. He shuffled around a bit, before he came back out with a black and yellow wind-up mouse. As Kirby watched, confused, he set it down on the floor and wound it up. He gave Kirby one last look. Then he let go.

The mouse streaked toward the three waiting turtles, rattling and clanking. They noticed it almost instantly. Even from a distance, Link could see them look at each other, confused. That confusion cost them, and when the mouse was only a few feet away, it exploded.

The cloud of heat and smoke that burst out of the ground threw the three turtles apart. Link turned back to Kirby, but the pink puffball was already gone. A streak of yellow flew past him in the street, and when he glanced out, he saw Kirby's star vehicle shrink farther into the distance.

A groan from behind him reminded him of the trio of hammer turtles. Without missing a beat, he drew his bow. They stumbled to their feet, clutching their heads. The explosion rattled them, and his master taught him to never let up against a downed foe.

His bowstring gave a deep twang. The first of the turtles looked up, only for an arrow to strike him in the face. As he flew away, his two friends looked up, but he already had another arrow notched on his bow. He let it fly. Another body hit the floor.

The third turtle was not about to let him down him so easily, though. As Link whipped out another arrow, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a hammer fly toward him. He barely managed to put up his shield just in time to block another slew of hammers. It was weaker this time, though. Weak enough for him to push back.

With a yell, he charged forward. The hammers pinged off his shield, rattling his bones. Pain blossomed from his shoulder as hammer after hammer struck against his shield. He ignored it all, refusing to give up. Each step brought him closer and closer to the hammer turtle.

Then, a moment of relief. Movement caught his eye, and Link lowered his shield to see the hammer turtle leap away in an effort to put more distance between them. The turtle's feet had only touched down on a mound of rubble when an arrow struck its chest. He saw the hammer turtle's eyes widen. Its arms flailed out as it tried to keep itself balanced, only to crash to the floor below.

A feeling of pride swelled in his chest, and a smile took to his face. It was his first victory on another planet, after all, so he felt he couldn't be blamed for feeling a little proud of himself.

_Maybe this new job won't be too hard,_ he thought.

Then a shadow fell over him. The smile died on his face, and he looked up. That's when he saw it half of a skyscraper above him, getting bigger by the second.

Before it could get any closer, another half of a building sailed into it. Both of them exploded into a shower of rubble, and he raised his shield just in time to deflect some of the smaller pieces to the side.

As the dust settled, he saw Kirby land beside him. He slung his shield back over back and gave Kirby a wave.

"Thanks!" he said.

"Poyo!" Kirby cheered back.

Link looked around them, at all the rubble at their feet. It was quite the scene, he'd admit. His master, a stickler for being clean, would probably have a fit if he saw this. But that didn't matter. It was over now.

Something crackled beneath him. Link glanced down, and he saw a radio nestled beneath a piece of debris. Curious, he leaned down to pick it up, and almost immediately he heard screaming in the background.

"All units to downtown. The situation has escalated. The Koopaling has taken ten hostages. I repeat, all units to downtown."

Link sighed. From the look Kirby was giving him, he wasn't happy about this either.

"Can I have your... what was it called again? Phone?"

Kirby tossed him a small device. Link fumbled with it, tossing it between his hands, before he finally caught it with his left. As he tried to remember how exactly he was supposed to use the thing, he spotted a box on the screen labeled Fox.

The device rang once. Then twice. On the third ring, he heard Fox's voice come through.

"Where are you?!"

"Where are you? People are blowing up the city, and we can't save anyone without help," Link said.

"We're dealing with a problem of our own back in the mansion," Fox replied. He sounded strained. "We're–"

A burst of static cut him off. Link frowned in concern. Something was happening back in the mansion? That didn't sound good.

After a second, the static died down to the sound of Fox shouting, "Who would put an automatic turret in the bathroom?"

"What's going on?" Link asked.

"I can't talk now. I'm busy," was all Fox said. Then the connection cut off with a click.

As Link let his arm fall to his side, he looked at Kirby. The pink puffball looked back with hopeful eyes. Link just shook his head, and Kirby deflated. Link glanced down the road, down to where the sounds of battle still rang clear, and as he sighed, he thought, _How did we get here again?_

* * *

**A taste for adventure isn't a rare thing. The man knows this. If you have ten workers stuck in a cramped office building, one of them is bound to become disillusioned, to want something more. Some people climb mountains. Some people bury themselves in hobbies.**

**Him? He just wants to get away.**

**His phone pings, and a taxi pulls up to the sidewalk beneath the flickering street lamp. He takes one last look to the drab buildings behind him. Who knows how long it will be before he saw them again? Then, with a resigned sigh, he pulls the car door open and steps inside.**

**"Where to?" I mutter from the driver's seat as I hear the door slam shut, my eyes clinging to the dashboard.**

**The man slides the seatbelt over his shoulder, clicking it in place, before he replies, "Anywhere."**

**That, that catches my attention. I look up, and I adjust my mirror. In the reflection, I glance at the man.**

**"Anywhere?" I ask again, just to make sure my right ear isn't acting up again.**

**"You heard me," the man says again.**

**A smile takes to my face. "I can take you to much more interesting places. I can take you to the big city. I can show you Lady Liberty, or get you a seat on the Green Monster. So why anywhere?"**

**"I'm going to end up somewhere, aren't I? I might as well try to find something new along the way." The man scowls, and he levels a glare at me. "Why so curious?"**

**"I don't just take anyone anywhere. I have to make sure it's someone who I want to spend the trip with."**

**The man huffs. "And am I?"**

**My smile only grows. "Are you sure you still want to go?"**

**"Yes please."**

**The car engine hums. With great care, I guide the car back onto the road. I check before, behind, and on both sides. It's a hasty check; I'd see a truck coming from a mile away, but a kid brushing the bumper?**

**Well, I can only hope there's no kid brushing up the bumper.**

**I give the man one last smile. Then, I steer the car into the misty night.**

* * *

**Trying something new with these author notes. If you don't like them, I can shut up. It'll be a very quiet car ride, though.**

**Next update: January 15th.**


	2. The Welcoming Committee, Part 2

**GuenZhenXuan2020: Do you mean am I going to have characters use things from other games? Like Robin with Galaxia or something? Short answer: Probably not. Long answer: Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what comes up in the story, but I don't have anything like that planned, at least not for this part.**

**14shiffna: Welcome back! No, the Temple of Time Link janitor/apprentice thing isn't canon. It's just since old Link has young Link as his apprentice, I thought I'd give him something mundane to do, like being a janitor. Meta Knight having an army of Meta Knights is canon, though. Also, I think I mentioned Master Hand having the Primids as his army in the first fic. Don't know if I said that directly, or if it was just implied, but hey! At least you know now.**

* * *

Kirby stuck out like a spine on a Gordo.

It went without saying his bright pink skin and baby face wasn't exactly hard to spot. Even on his own planet, people stared at him, so he wasn't bothered by all the looks he was getting from the people of Hyrule.

No, what bothered him was how hard Greenie was to find.

He had arrived here to get him to their new base. Meta Knight had told him Greenie was quite famous on his planet. He thought that meant everyone would know where to find him, but no one seemed to be able to agree where he was.

When he asked the shopkeeper, he said he went to help the arcade woman carry some stuff. When he asked the arcade woman, she said he'd gone to round up some cuckoo birds with the guards. When he asked the guards, they said he had to help the farmer outside the castle with his cows. And now that he was at the farm, the farmer just told him he'd just disappeared.

It was very frustrating.

Kirby knew that Mister Fox needed him to get Greenie, and he liked to think that he was a good boy. This time, though, he was tempted to make an exception.

As he was passed under the farm's gate, though, he heard Greenie's voice.

"Here, kitty! Do you want this fish?"

Curious, Kirby followed the sound of the voice. It led him all the way to the side of the farm, and when he poked his head around the bend, he saw Greenie and a brown-haired girl standing in front of a tree.

Kirby didn't see anything special about the tree. It just looked like a normal tree. But apparently, Greenie saw something that he didn't, because he was holding out a fish to the tree.

Kirby thought that was silly. Didn't Greenie know there were more important things to do than feeding fish to trees? Like getting back to Mister Fox?

"Poyo!" Kirby shouted.

Greenie and the girl turned away from the fish-eating tree. When Greenie saw Kirby, his eyes lit up, but instead of coming over, he motioned for Kirby to come to him. Maybe he needed help with the fish-eating tree?

Kirby didn't think they had time for that. Still, he decided to go over, and as he got closer, Greenie knelt down to meet him.

"Hey... Kirby, was it?" he said, breaking out into a smile.

Kirby nodded.

Greenie scanned over the top of Kirby's head before he looked back at him and asked. "What are you doing here?"

Kirby replied by sticking an arm into his mouth, and he pulled out a roll of paper. Greenie gave him a weird look. When he exchanged a glance with the girl beside him, Kirby started to feel he was missing something.

"Do you... have one without..." Greenie made a strange spinning motion with his finger. Kirby tilted his head. He tried to follow the finger, but all that ended up doing was making him dizzy, so he decided it was probably a Hyrule thing.

Whatever it was, it couldn't have been as important as the piece of paper in his hands, so he just nudged it toward Greenie again.

Greenie winced, but he still took the piece of paper. As Greenie unfurled the piece of paper, Kirby sent a signal to his Warp Star. He wasn't sure how both Greenie and he were supposed to fit on it, but orders were orders.

He felt it lift off and zoom toward him, and he turned back to Greenie to find his face lighting up as he read whatever it was on the paper.

"I was wondering how I was going to get there. Thank you for giving me this," Greenie said, shaking the piece of paper.

Kirby frowned, confused. Wait. So he wasn't supposed to bring Greenie with him?

As he pondered this, Greenie pointed behind him. "I'll get going in a second, I just need to take care of this."

The fish-eating tree again? What was so important about that?

Kirby had to hold back a groan. Greenie tried to turn back to the tree, but Kirby grabbed one of his legs.

"Poyo!" Couldn't he see how important this was? The fish-eating tree could come later!

"Kirby?" Greenie looked down at him, his brows drawn down. "Thanks, but–"

The fish-eating tree rustled. Kirby noticed this out of the corner of his eye, and he glanced up just in time to see an orange blur fall out from the leaves.

Link noticed it too. He cursed and dove to catch it, but Kirby could tell he wasn't going to make it in time.

So he moved first.

A cold feeling spread throughout his body, from his center to the tips of his arm. Kirby took a deep breath, and when he blew, a stream of ice gushed out. Within seconds, he had made a chunk of ice lodged over the side of the cliff, straight through the trunk of the tree, and sloped all the way down to the grass.

The orange blur slid off the ice, and its fall turned to the side before it smacked into Greenie's face waiting at the bottom. Greenie yelped, and as he fell back, Kirby saw that the orange blur was actually a tiny kitten.

In an instant, the girl next to Greenie rushed in and took the kitten from his hands. "Thanks Mister Hero!" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

She pulled away a second later and ran off with her kitten in her hands. Kirby watched as she left, but when he looked back at Greenie, Greenie stared at him with an open mouth like a hungry fish. Greenie looked at the ice shard, then back at him.

"You–that giant ice shard–but you're so small–how?" he said, his voice rising in pitch.

Kirby shrugged. He didn't see what the big deal was. It was just a tiny shard of ice.

When Greenie didn't move, still gawking at Kirby, Kirby decided to remind him that they needed to get going.

Then the Warp Star came over and reminded him that he needed to get going as well by striking him in the back of the head.

* * *

They arrived in a blinding column of light. A pillar of swirling yellows and whites tore down from the sky, searing into a grassy field as it poured down onto the floor. When it finally drained away, Link and Kirby were stood atop a small stone platform with the yellow triangles carved into it in the middle of a large garden, flower beds circling around them.

Fox was waiting for them as the light cleared away. Stepping through a gap in the flowers, he raised a hand in greeting.

"Link! So glad to see you could join us!"

"Yeah," Link said with a nervous chuckle.

He glanced down at Kirby, still picking blades of grass off his face with a childish pout. Seeing his gaze drift, Fox looked down at Kirby as well.

"What happened to him?" he asked.

"I don't know," Link said. His voice came out as a squeak. "He just got..." Link mimed his palm smacking off his arm, before he added, "With a big shiny star."

"Really?" Fox narrowed his eyes and thumbed his blaster. "Is it something we should worry about? More activity from that Ganondorf fellow?"

"I don't know," Link said again. "Kirby gave me this."

He pulled a card out from the pouch at his hip, and he handed it to Fox. On it, straight black letters read: "The *big shiny star* is with me. It's still being trained, so please excuse any bad behavior."

Fox frowned as he read it, mumbling what Link guessed were the words under his breath. Then he turned to Kirby.

"You have a star as a pet?" he asked, tilting his head.

But Kirby didn't hear him. He had already waded deep into the flower beds and was currently blowing up a storm of petals.

"Who set up a warp pad here, anyway?" Link said.

"Master Hand. Apparently, he knows quite a bit about our worlds. Stuff stored in Federation databases, I wouldn't worry too much about that."

"I'd worry about how much money he needed to spend for this," Link said, and he tapped his foot against the warp pad. "Not only would he have to carve this; he'd need to find a place with a lot of magic, and that's not easy on a planet full of technologies like this one."

"Well, this wouldn't be the whole team if we didn't have you with us," Fox said, giving Link a pat on the back. "Besides, Master Hand does have a lot of resources, since he built all this for us."

Link nodded. "Well, he must have a lot of money if he bought all these pretty flowers. I've never seen anything so pretty outside of Hyrule Castle's gardens."

Fox opened his mouth. Then he closed it, and he furrowed his eyebrows. "That wasn't what I was talking about."

"Really?"

Fox motioned behind him. Link turned around, and before him, he saw a manor looming overhead. It was one of the biggest things he'd ever seen, second only to Hyrule Castle, and he couldn't help but gawk at the size.

"This is our base? This is the biggest house I've ever seen!" he said, excitement rising in his voice.

"It is." Fox glanced at Link and smirked. "Come inside. Master Hand gave us a tour, but you missed it. I'll show you and Kirby around."

Link opened his mouth to reply. A low growl cut him off, a deep note that sounded like it came from something huge. He jumped back, startled, and his hand flew to his sword.

"What was that?" he said, glancing around.

Fox looked down to his stomach. "You."

Link glanced down as well, just in time to hear his stomach give another growl. It reminded him that he hadn't eaten all day, and he had grown quite hungry.

"I can give you the tour after you eat. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah," Link said.

Kirby jumped in between them, and said "Poyo!" Link didn't know what it meant, but it sounded like an agreement.

"It's settled!" Fox said. "Yoshi is making something in the kitchen. I'm sure he'll be happy to cook some for you."

With that, he turned and headed for the red door leading into the mansion. Link followed after him, as did Kirby. So far, the day was starting out great.

When he noticed the pink puffball running beside him, Link snuck a look over at him. His thoughts wandered back to when they'd met out behind Lon Lon Ranch, and remembering the iceberg Kirby had put into the tree, he frowned.

_I've seen powerful magic before, but from something as small as Kirby? And he did it without getting tired._

He shook the thought out of his head. He was hungry, and that was why he was thinking of things like that. Probably.

Besides, they'd reached the door. After he got food, he could think about things like that.

Fox turned the gold knob, and he pulled the door open to reveal a bright kitchen bathed in warm light. He stepped inside, and as Link slipped in after him, he was met with the smell of eggs and oil.

A long rectangular wooden table lay at the center of the kitchen, and five wooden chairs sat around it. Beyond that, a series of cabinets lined the walls. To the left of that, a large metal box towered over the room. And to the right was a smaller metal box, with Yoshi standing in front of it.

"Yoshi!" Fox called out to him. "Link and Kirby want to eat. Do you think you can make them something to eat?"

Yoshi nodded his head and hummed. Before he could turn his attention back to whatever was in front of him, Link stopped him.

"Hey, what are you making, anyway?"

Yoshi tilted his head. Then he turned around, revealing the frying pan in his hands, and the small yellow blob shape inside. An omelet.

Link's face twisted into a frown. "I don't want it."

"Poyo!" Kirby added, a sour expression on his face as well.

Yoshi gave them a look, but in the end, he shrugged and turned back to the cooking box.

"Do we have anything else to eat?" Link said, turning to Fox.

"I'm afraid not," Fox said. "At the moment we just have eggs. Courtesy of Master Hand."

"He's rich enough to build a castle, but he didn't buy us food?"

"He simply forgot. It happens sometimes."

Link groaned. Kirby let out a long sigh. Seeing their faces, Fox patted Link's shoulder.

"Cheer up. There's a marketplace down the street you can buy food from."

"Really?" Link's face lit up.

"Yeah. Smash City gets visitors from all across the galaxy, so any money you have on you will work here as well."

Link broke out into a grin. "Then what are we waiting for! Let's go!"

Fox glanced away. "Actually, I have to stay here. Some of the mansion's defense mechanisms need some adjusting."

"Oh. Then I guess I'm going alone!"

Link turned to go, when he felt someone tug on his leg. His eyes fell to the floor, and he found Kirby staring up at him.

"Why don't you take Kirby with you?" Fox said. "He looks like he's hungry too."

Link bit his lip. Helping kids was different from looking after them. He didn't know how to control them, and from the looks of it, Kirby was that, just one who was very strong. But he didn't want to leave him to starve either.

"Alright," he said, slumping over. "Let's go."

Kirby cheered. With a sigh, Link pushed open the door again, Kirby not too far behind.

This was supposed to be the start of something exciting, and here he was looking after a kid. He just hoped this would be all he had to worry about today.

* * *

Some people thought the galaxy was all doom and gloom.

Of course, those people were wrong. They always were.

Really, there were so many funny things to laugh about. You just needed to look in the right places.

And right now? That right place was in somebody's face.

The toad's wide eyes, bulging with fear. All those little shaking motions he was doing. It all looked so dumb. So silly.

Being scared was something Lemmy Koopa would never understand. Fear, he understood, but being scared? Showing that fear?

It made people look like Mr. "Hey Squirt" over here.

Besides, why look on the verge of bawling when you could laugh instead? Laughing was good. Laughter was medicine.

And he was pumped up on it.

With a chuckle, Lemmy tapped Mr. "Hey Squirt" on the nose one more time. Then he slammed the closet door in his face, and he turned back to the fuzzy screen behind him.

"Hey Small Boss!" he said.

A voice came through the screen, bubbling with static. "_I've been waiting for almost half an hour. You'd better be done."_

"Done? Why wouldn't it?"

_"You have called me three times, and none of those calls were reports. My patience had been growing thin."_

"Well, it's done now. Worked like a charm!" Lemmy Koopa giggled.

The voice growled. It was a low sound, low enough to shake the table the screen was mounted on. _"You'd better not be tooling with me again."_

"Ooh! Ooh! Does this mean I can push the button now?"

_"No. You may not push the button until I say so."_ There was a pause. _"And don't try it. It won't do anything."_

"Okay! I can wait. It's just like waiting for Mr. Mario. I can wait until you say so, just you see!"

_"You'd better."_

With that, the screen blipped out, fading back to black.

Seeing only his reflection in the screen, Lemmy's smile widened. "Sure thing Mr. Monkey Boss."

* * *

**A/N: Writer's block happened last week. I may/may not turn this into a bi-weekly thing, if only to let these chapters develop more. I hope you understand.**

**Update: Who knows when. It could be the 5th. It could be the 12th. But it's going to be on a Wednesday.**


	3. The Welcoming Committee, Part 3

Jigglypuff was confused.

She could be a lot of things. In fact, she liked to think she had many sides, like that Miracle Matter thing she had heard about. But right now, she was confused.

Confused, and with a door pressed to her face.

Taking a step back, she glanced up to see if she was at the right place, and sure enough, the name carved in above her said Pikachu. She hadn't gone to the wrong room or anything. So why wasn't he answering the door?

Again, she knocked on his door. And again.

After the third knock, she heard a click. Pikachu pulled the door open just a crack, and when he saw her, his brow furrowed.

Before he could close the door, Jigglypuff jammed a hand behind it. Pikachu's frown only grew. He glared at her as if she was an idiot, and she withered just a tiny bit.

_Maybe, just maybe, this had been a mistake,_ she thought.

Sheepishly, she pulled out a folder brimming with papers, a very big "R" painted on the front of it. This case, it was his; she knew it had to be, and from the way his eyes widened, she also knew she'd been right.

She felt a surge of pride, knowing that she'd helped. Though judging by how fast the door was closing on her, that would be all she was going to help with today.

Jigglypuff's eyes widened. Before she could think about what she was doing, Jigglypuff threw her arm between the door.

It hurt, having the weight of a door slammed onto her. But at least it stopped Pikachu from leaving, and he turned around, his brow creased in a worried frown.

_I want to help!_ she wanted to say. She and Pikachu, they were like siblings, even before they had lost their trainer.

For the past year, Pikachu always snuck away when he thought she was asleep. She never found out why, but that wasn't what she had noticed the most for the past year; it was that whenever he got back, he was always tired.

She didn't know what he was going, or why he was doing it. She had no idea what was in those files he held right now. But she hated this. Being unable to help, watching from the sidelines as he exhausted himself on whatever it was he did.

So she looked him in the eyes. She opened her mouth.

Pikachu shut her up with a glare.

Jigglypuff reeled, not expecting such a harsh reaction from him. She was only trying to help, and she tried to make it as clear as possible.

Whatever had ticked him off so much, though, it made him ignore every desperate sign she tried to give. She pulled. She cried. And through it all, his glare was etched into his face like stone as he pushed her out the door, down the hall, until she found herself sitting at the end of the stairs.

Peering down the flight of stairs, Jigglypuff let out a sigh. A really loooooong sigh.

_For all his smarts, he can really be dumb,_ she thought, puffing her cheeks out in a pout. _I don't care if he thinks I'm too young. I want to help!_

She turned around again, just in time to catch the end of Pikachu's stern gaze. It was clear he didn't want her help. She stepped forward, thinking that maybe she could try again, but he turned his back to her before she had the chance.

With his tail held high, he pushed open a door and disappeared behind it. As the door clicked shut, Jigglypuff could only drop her hand, her brief pride now replaced with guilt.

The door clicked open a second later. Jigglypuff's head snapped back up, only to see Pikachu storm out across the hall. He gave her an irritated glare, perhaps still mad at her for being so pushy, before he opened his door on the other side of the hall and stumbled through.

Jigglypuff watched it all, and a twinge of worry found its way into her heart.

It just wasn't fair.

* * *

"It's just not fair," Link mumbled, peering closely at the sign hanging behind the glass door. "What does this say? Sweet Shop... j-eym? Opens at 9? It's 8 right now! In Hyrule, all shops open when the rooster calls. Why do these people make us wait so long?"

Beside him, Kirby gave a loud "Poyo!" His stomach grumbled in agreement, and he said, "Poyo!" again while rubbing his stomach.

Link glanced at him, before he looked back at the sign. "I mean, it's not like I mind waiting. Sometimes, a hero has to wait for a bit if they want to get things done," he said proudly. "Besides, I don't need to eat breakfast. I still have lunch and dinner to eat."

This time, Kirby turned to give him a funny look. He raised one stubby arm, then raised another. He balanced some imaginary thing between the two of them, looking back and forth between them so fast, he wobbled over and fell flat on his bottom. As he shook his head, his face morphed into a confused frown, like whatever silly little thing he'd just thought about was completely out of his understanding.

Not that Link was paying attention to him or anything. Whatever Kirby was doing next to him, he had no idea, since he wasn't watching him at all.

Behind them, someone cleared their voice.

Link spun around so fast he almost lost his balance. His gloves squeaked against the glass as he slammed them against the window behind him to prevent himself from falling over. Acting fast so no one noticed, he pushed off the wall and dusted off his green tunic, like he'd meant to do that.

"How may I..."

Link frowned as he stared ahead. Huh. No one was there.

"Down here."

"Oh!"

Link looked down. Just at his waist, he found one of those creatures with the bright white and red fungus hats standing in front of him, wrinkles sprawled over her face.

The words came out of him like a finely-honed instinct. "How may I help you, miss?"

"I think I should ask you the same thing," the old lady replied. "What is such an unusual pair doing, standing outside my store."

"Your store?" Link's eyes widened. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realize," he said, and he stepped away.

The old woman waved him aside. "It's no bother. Now, what can I help you with?"

"We were just waiting for this place to open."

"Well, since you seem patient enough to wait for me, I can do you this favor and let you in early. Just let me find my keys..." The old woman turned around and reached into her purse. Link glanced away as she rummaged around her bag, and his shoulders slumped in relief.

"Oh thank the goddess. I was starting to think I was going to have to skip breakfast."

"Is that so? Well, I'm afraid you won't find that here."

This time, it was Link's turn to wave her aside. "Nonsense. I'll be happy as long as you have food. Speaking of food, you wouldn't happen to have candy corn, would you? Those have always been a favorite of mine."

"We don't have food here," the old woman said with a chuckle.

"I'm... sorry?"

Taking her gaze out of her bag, she glanced up at him and gave him an amused look. "If it's candy corn you want, you'll find it at the Sweet Shop. It's right across the street from here, you can't miss it."

"Sweet Shop?" Link frowned. "But I thought–"

"This is the Sweat Shop Gym, dear."

Link opened his mouth. Then he closed it.

Heat crept up his face, and he barely managed to stutter out, "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!"

"You're hardly the first person to make the mistake, don't fret."

"I'm not, I..." Link coughed, and he composed himself again. That... that was certainly an embarrassing mix up. Heroes couldn't go around making mistakes like that.

He turned to his right, where Kirby had been. Only, he wasn't there at all.

A "Poyo!" from across the street caught his attention before he could panic. His head snapped up to look over, and sure enough, he found Kirby standing on the other side, waving his hands at him, the biggest smile on his face like he'd just outran a flock of cuccos.

_Of course he's already there._ Link thought.

Pausing for a second, Link turned back to the old lady and said, "Thank you, miss! Have a nice day!"

He barely heard the lady reply before he brought his attention back to Kirby. He was still smiling from over the road, like he was so happy he'd got to the shop first.

_Not that it matters, since it was still closed, _he told himself as he made his way over to Kirby.

There was still an hour left before the shops opened. A whole bunch of things could happen in an hour. Maybe the shop owner might show up early. Maybe someone might start trouble, and they wouldn't have to sit outside for a whole hour. If the city got attacked or something, after all, that would be a lot better than having to wait a billion seconds for breakfast.

An hour later, he'd regret thinking that. But it would take an hour for that to happen, so what would he care about something like that?

* * *

**This is an attempt at humor. Not as much as Hitting the Books, but still an attempt.**

**Pretty sure this fits into the bi-weekly schedule, but if it doesn't, then I'm sorry for being so late.**

**These next few chapters will be more light-hearted, as I attempt to make this world of Nintendo superheroes work. I haven't written for this in a while, and a ton of expositionary stuff just got taken out, so I'm going to have to go back and explain some stuff later, but for now, I hope you like what I've gotten down this time. Just some light character development, some catch-up stuff, the works.**

**So I said this in the (former) 4th chapter, but since I deleted it, I'll have to say it again: the weird thing with the author notes saga I was doing? I'm not doing that anymore, at least not unless it's a major block in the story. I did that in the first chapter when I was super tired, so I wasn't thinking straight, and I've felt obliged to continue it every week since then. It's been causing me quite a bit of trouble, though, so I just decided to stop doing it.**

**Second big announcement: I'm moving this fic's update date to Thursday. This'll be the last time I update on a Wednesday. The reason for this is because I'm super busy on Tuesdays, and I can never get any writing done then. I like to do my writing a day earlier, so since Tuesday wasn't an option, I had to write this on Monday, which does bad things to my writing since... come on, it's Monday. So, by switching the update date to Thursday, this means I won't have to write on Mondays or Tuesdays, and it gives me all of Wednesday to work on this fic. The only downside is that I might get distracted while writing Over the River, but I'll just have to wait and see about that.**

**Anyway, I'll see you all sometime Thursday.**


	4. The Welcoming Committee, Part 4

When Jigglypuff stormed into the kitchen, Yoshi picked up her unhappy mood in an instant. The pan over the stove crackled, calling for his attention once more, and he moved his gaze back to the stovetop. As he shifted the omelet, he heard the chair behind him scrape against the floor.

Yoshi craned to look over his shoulder. Jigglypuff froze, a handful of chocolate chips inches away from her mouth.

Yoshi looked at her. Then he looked at the box of chocolate chips next to her. He looked back at Jigglypuff, but the chocolate chips were already gone, and faintly, he could hear a dull crunching sound. After a second, she shrugged, swallowed her food, and reached for another handful of chocolate.

Briefly, Yoshi thought about stopping her. The thought was fleeting, and he turned back to his cooking a second later. Who was he to tell her what to do? If she needed sugar to help with her troubles, he wasn't going to stop her.

For a few minutes more, the sizzling and crackling of the pan was all that filled the air. Another handful of chocolate disappeared from the box, and Jigglypuff gave a sigh. Yoshi looked back again, and, to his surprise, the box was almost empty.

_If she's had this much chocolate, there must be a big problem,_ he thought.

Jigglypuff reached for the chocolate again. This time, Yoshi stopped her, putting a hand over the box. Jigglypuff glanced up to give him a glare with all the anger of a hungry kitten, and Yoshi met her with a calm gaze.

With a slight tilt of his head, he gave an inquisitive sound, rising in pitch like bubbles under the water. She just shook her head, and she made another grab for the box of chocolate chips. He moved it out of her reach. With a huff, Jigglypuff turned her back to him, and she made to walk away, but as she did, an idea came to him.

Yoshi rattled the box. She stopped in her tracks and turned around, her head set to a curious tilt.

He put the box back on the table, and he removed her hand. As soon as his back was turned, he heard the chair slide back again. He smiled, and from one of the kitchen cabinets, he produced another box of chocolates.

When he turned back, Jigglypuff was stuffing one last handful of chocolate into her mouth. She glanced up at him flatly, before she went back to nibbling her chocolate.

Then her eyes snapped back to him and fell on the box of chocolate chips in his hands. Keeping his eyes on her as he moved, he pulled back the chair next to Jigglypuff. He gently set down the box and nudged it toward her.

Jigglypuff's eyes lit up. She didn't even look at him as she ripped open the box and dug in like a greedy Koopa-Troopa digging for gold. Yoshi's smile only grew. Joy was infectious, at least for him, and if he knew anything about it, it was that children loved sugar.

_It certainly made Mario happy,_ he thought wistfully. _I don't know how I would have survived without all those apples._

Then the complaining started.

A string of words poured from her mouth, like music notes from the bell of a trumpet. He expected it, of course; he'd been practically begging for it.

What really surprised him was how long she made it. She rambled on and on and Yoshi tried to nod when he could, but she just spoke so fast, it was hard to catch everything. From what little he could understand with all her flailing around, her brother was the problem. He picked up something about a mystery, being abandoned and shut out. It might have made for an interesting tale if she talked a little slower.

But who was he to judge? He was just there to listen. Better to let it out than keep it in, he always said.

He almost missed the beeping coming from the stove. Yoshi glanced over his shoulder to see a blinking red light on the dashboard. Jigglypuff stopped as well, and as he looked back to her, she nodded back to the stove.

With a sigh, Yoshi strolled over. He looked up and over the stovetop, but nothing seemed out of place. He shook the omelet in the pan around. Then he pressed a button on the dashboard, in an attempt to turn it back on.

The stove didn't seem to like that if the giant flames over the pan were anything to go by.

Jigglypuff squeaked. Yoshi dropped the pan with a clang, startled.

He really should have expected this. _I suppose that's what I get for not paying attention._

Frantically, Yoshi threw his gaze around the room. There had to be a fire extinguisher around here. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jigglypuff run up to him with a very big canister. He didn't hesitate to snatch it out of her hands. The lid popped off, and with a swing, he poured out all its contents into the fire. As the liquid cast over the flames, and the flames seemed to settle down, Yoshi caught a glimpse of what was on the canister's label.

Gasoline.

His eyes bulged. Without thinking, he moved in front of Jigglypuff. A loud explosion ripped through the air. A wave of heat washed over him, and a searing pain tore down his side. Yoshi gasped, and the force sent him flying back.

His head stung. As he pushed himself off the floor, he was vaguely aware of a giant red plume rising up in the corner of the kitchen. His vision cleared, and when he laid eyes upon the massive bonfire burning in the kitchen, he realized Jigglypuff was nowhere to be found.

Panic seized him. He got up to look for her, but something lightly tapped him on the shoulder, and he found Jigglypuff behind him, safely tucked against the wall.

Alarms blared through the halls. Yoshi looked up, and when he saw a strange nozzle gadget descend from the ceiling, he chuckled, relieved.

With the speed unexpected of something so small, the nozzle let loose a stream of frothing white foam. The fire vanished in seconds, completely smothered, and as Yoshi pulled Jigglypuff to her feet, by the time he looked back, all that remained was a black, sooty mess.

Jigglypuff sighed. Yoshi did the same, glad at having averted a potential disaster. It would take some time before he would be able to use the kitchen again, but the fire extinguisher had done its job, and it had done it well.

Which was why it was concerning that the alarms were still blaring. Even more so when the fire extinguisher turned its nozzle to him and Jigglypuff.

* * *

Link was not having a great time.

Usually, he'd have been perfectly happy like this, an ice cream cone in his hand, the sugary white swirl dotted with pieces of candy corn. Ice cream shops were very rare in Hyrule, one of the many downsides to the technology disrupting properties of magic. Ice cream was one of his favorite foods, so whenever he got it, he always made sure to enjoy himself. And he would have been happy to dig in, if not for–

"Aw, it's so cute! What's its name?"

Link gave a huff. He didn't want to answer. It had been the millionth time he'd been asked that question, but a hero never got mad at other people, no matter how annoying they got.

"His name is Kirby," he said, trying to keep his voice even. It was hard, but his master would probably be proud of how patiently he handled that.

"Poyo?"

"Kirby?" the random child in front of him said. "What an awesome name!"

As the kid turned and scurried off, Link scowled. This was all Kirby's fault. If he wasn't here, then Link wouldn't have to deal with all these annoying questions. Of course, Kirby himself didn't seem to notice, which only annoyed Link even more.

_I can't believe Samus and Mario decided not to join, but this kid did,_ Link thought bitterly. _I would have loved to fight at their side again, but nooo, I'm stuck with babysitting the alien kid._

Almost as if on cue, a rough voice spoke behind him. "Kid? Is that you?"

Link spun around, and there was Mario, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, a suitcase in his arms.

"Mario!" A smile broke out onto Link's face. "It's been forever!"

"Only if you count a day as forever," Mario said, chuckling. "Can a macaroni noodle what it is, kid."

"Well, it felt like forever!" As Link walked up to take Mario's outstretched hand, he said, "I thought you were staying away to be with your family."

"I am with my family. It's just that said family just so happens to be a princess and a brother I need to keep an eye on while we visit some places."

"You're visiting?" Link's eyes fell to the bags at Mario's side. The answer was obvious, now that he thought about it. "Did you just get here?"

"I'm leaving, actually. I just thought I'd stop by to get the princess some stuff before we left, but it looks like nothing's actually open. Y'know, aside from the gym and the candy store."

"I know! These schedules are so stupid."

It was then that Kirby decided to insert himself between them. "Poyo!"

"Hey!" Mario broke out into a grin, and he pointed down at Kirby. "It's... this guy!" Looking back at Link, he leaned forward and whispered, "What was his name again?"

Link's own smile fell. "Kirby," he said.

Mario crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "You don't sound too sure about that, kid. You sure his name ain't Rick or Pitch? Something normal like that?"

"No. It's definitely Kirby." He tried to hide how annoyed he was, but Mario's look told him he saw right through it. Apparently, he wasn't as good as hiding it as he thought he was. He'd have to get better.

"Sounds like there's a story between you two. What's the matter? You get stuck with babysitting duty or something?"

Was he that obvious? Kirby glanced up at him, frowning. Link's only reply was to look away.

"I... well... that is..."

Mario put a hand on Link's shoulder. When Link looked up to meet his gaze, Mario offered him a smile. "Kid, there's nothing with admitting to the bad stuff. We all burn the pasta pot every now and then."

"I'm doing fine!" Link blurted out. As he brushed Mario's hand off his shoulder, he huffed again. "I'm doing just fine. You don't need to worry. I can do this."

Mario didn't look like he bought it. Link thought he would add more, but, to his surprise, Mario just stepped back, his warm smile never fading.

"Well, I guess you do have it under control. I shouldn't have doubted you, Kid. See you around." With that, he turned around and started to walk away.

"Yeah," Link said. He started to turn away as well, but Mario stopped him.

"I just hope you're setting a good example. Pasta won't soak if the water's too cold."

"Huh?"

Mario came to a halt several feet away. "Kids are always looking for someone to take after, you know. I'm sure you'd understand; you probably still remember being a kid."

Link glanced down at Kirby. Kirby glanced back, blinking owlishly. He didn't seem to know what to make of that either. Maybe Mario had meant something else, then?

"What do you mea–" Link looked back up at Mario, but he had vanished.

His gaze returned to Kirby. Kirby just smiled at him. With that innocent look, Link found it hard to believe he was looking for anything.

_Besides, who would want to learn from me?_ Link thought. He tore his gaze from Kirby and brought it back to his ice cream cone. To his disappointment, the pretty swirl shape at the top had been reduced to a mushy blob. With the sun shining so brightly, it was a wonder it hadn't started to run down his hand yet.

Below him, Kirby tugged on his leg. When Link glanced down, Kirby pointed to his mouth. It was clear he wanted a bite, but Kirby had already finished his own ice cream, so Link shook his head. He opened his mouth to take another bite.

Then the ground shook. His ice cream tipped over and splattered all over his green tunic. He gasped at the icy feeling. Frustration bubbled in his throat, and he probably would have shouted if it weren't for the–

_Goddess, did that roof just fly into the air?_

A hundred screams took to the air, the cries of terrified citizens echoing all around the city. When he heard them, a single thought crossed his mind: he had to save them.

He broke into a run, and as he did, he crammed as much of his ice cream into his mouth.

He remembered why it wasn't a good idea to shovel down cold food a second too late. He wasn't even angry that Kirby had saved the people before him; with how much his head hurt, he was surprised he managed to get there at all.

* * *

**What's this? An update in the early morning? That's illegal!**

**I've actually had this written up for a few days now, since I forgot I changed the update date to Thursday. I'm doing this now so I don't have to do this later, or I'll never get it done.**

**Also, I know I said I'd make this bi-weekly, but then I had a bunch of ideas. Maybe I'll pick something else to be bi-weekly, I don't know.**

**So now we're back to where we were before I started rewriting. Four chapters. And we're in the exact same place again.**

**Why did any of this matter? Well, I hope I've set up the characters a lot better now. The last time, the character dynamics felt sort of thrown in since a lot of this story was just exposition, something you never want to do in a crossover, or in a superhero story. This time, I've spent more time to set up a bunch of (entertaining, I hope) character back and forths that establish their dynamic a little better.**

**Trying to get back into update schedules. With enough luck (or persistence, either works) I'll be able to avoid falling back on Valve time.**

**Next update will be out March 12th.**


	5. The Welcoming Committee, Part 4-20

Link's peaceful day was interrupted when the screen in front of him fizzled to life. As the static rolled away, a grey backdrop opened before him, set behind the King of Hyrule.

Link gasped. "It's the King!"

"My boy," the King said, "the evil wizard Ganon is up to something. Just last week, he purchased a hundred cigarette lighters, a metric ton of Ziploc brand plastic bags with its unbeatable freshness, complete with easy-open tabs, and a ceiling fan. I want you to investigate what he's up to and put a stop to it just before you come home for dinner."

"You can count on me!" Link said. "I'll go grab my stuff!"

"There's no time. We need you to go now!"

On the screen, the King pulled out a remote, pointed it at the screen, and pushed the button at the top. The screen went black.

"Zelda, what did I do?" Link heard the King say.

"Father, that's the off button," Zelda's voice piped in. "If you want to eject him, you need to push this button."

Link opened his mouth to say something. The chair shuddered before he could make a sound. His fingers tightened around the seat of the chair before it lifted off the ground. He smashed through the ceiling, and as he looked back, he saw Hyrule Castle grow smaller behind him.

He sailed through the air, passing under a cloud, and came crashing down right into the middle of a big cave. A bunch of evil-looking charms were scattered on the floor and hung up on the walls, beeping and flashing in a very malevolent manner. At the center of the room, the evil wizard Ganon stood hunched over a very suspicious-looking bag, staring at Link and looking very surprised.

"Link the meddling hero! What an unexpected surprise!" he said.

"An evil-doer as yourself should always be on the lookout for heroes," Link replied. "Wherever there's evil, we'll always be there to stop you!"

Ganon rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course. Wherever I leave my evil trail, you and your goody-two-shoes friends are always one step behind. Which is why I brought my evil mirror with me!" He pulled out a mirror from inside his robes and held it proudly in front of him. "Gaze upon it in fear! It will be the last time you see your outrageously handsome face!"

A beam shot out of the mirror and hit Link. In a flash of light, he disappeared. Ganon cackled, and he flipped his evil mirror around.

A wooden statue of Link, a green hat placed on top of it and a smirk permanently carved into it.

"And I knew you'd use a dirty trick like that," Link said, stepping out from behind a rock, "which is why I brought a decoy!"

Ganon laughed, and he shook his finger. "Ah! But I knew you'd know that I'd use a dirty trick, and I knew that you would use a decoy, which is why I trapped that rock you're standing next to!"

He pulled out a switch from inside his robes and flicked it. Link gasped and turned to the rock beside him. The rock pulled away, revealing a cage underneath it. Link tried to jump away, but the cage jumped over him and slammed down, trapping him behind bars.

Ganon cackled again. "Now that I have you trapped, allow me to tell you my evil plan!" He motioned to the bag in his hands, which, now that Link had a good look at it, was filled with leaves.

"Leaves?" Link said. "Are you going to turn Lake Hylia into a giant cup of tea?"

"Not something as hot as that, no," Ganon said. He shook the bag "Do you know what this is?" Ganon asked. "These leaves come from a very special plant called cannabis, or as all the cool kids are calling it now, 'weed'."

Link gave him a confused look. "Weed? Like the stuff that grows in gardens?"

"I know! It's a very weird name. It doesn't even grow randomly in gardens, you have to actually plant it if you want it, and that's not what a weed is." Ganon coughed. "Anyway, weeds are supposed to annoy you. But this new 'weed' does something much worse. Do you know what it does?"

"Am I supposed to?" Link asked.

"Well... no. But you're young, so I thought you might..." Ganon scratched his head. "Nevermind. Anyway, this 'weed', it doesn't taste very good, so you can't put it in a salad, and it looks ugly, so you can't use it as decoration either. Do you know what people do with it? They burn it!" He let out a frustrated groan and pulled at his hair. "Have you ever smelled burned cannabis? It smells so horrible! And these teenagers down the road keep burning it, and whenever I smell it, it puts me in such a bad mood. None of my neighbors get as angry about it, so maybe I'm just allergic to it, but even if it's just me, I still hate it! I tried asking the guard on the corner to get them to stop, but all he said was 'As long as they're not coming up with evil schemes, then it's none of our business'. Can you believe the nerve of those guys? So, I came up with this!"

With that, Ganon grabbed a dark curtain behind him. It came away with a gust of wind, revealing a pile of plastic bags filled with weed, stacked high enough to reach the ceiling of the cave, all of it sitting in a ring of cigarette lighters. Behind it, the ceiling fan sat mounted to a wooden stand.

Ganon held his hands out toward it in a dramatic fashion."Behold! The Weed-inator 2000!" Ganon laughed and rubbed his hands together evilly. "With this, I will burn all this cannabis and sent its horrible smell out into Hyrule castle sitting below! That way, the castle guards won't be able to say 'It's not our business' when the whole town square smells! And you, Link, will be the first to be hit by the horrible smell of the Weed-inator 2000!"

He turned to Link, an evil grin on his face. But all that was in the cage was the wooden Link statue, staring back at him with its empty, lifeless eyes.

"Another decoy?!" Ganon shrieked. "But then where is the real Link?"

Something tapped his shoulder. Ganon looked down at the mirror, just in time to see Link's fist emerge from inside and slam into his face.

Ganon screamed and fell onto the seat of his pants. The evil mirror went flying in the other direction, and as it clattered to the floor, Link pulled the rest of himself out. Ganon's mouth fell to the floor.

"How did you get out?"

"It was easy," Link said. "I switched places with my decoy when you were distracted."

"No matter!" Ganon said. "I was only going to spray you, but now that you have escaped, you must die!"

He reached out, and lightning shot out of his fingertips.

"Not so fast!" Link swung his sword. The bolts of lightning scattered. Ganon hissed and stepped back, but Link was on him before he could react. He planted a boot in his chest. With a single kick, he sent Ganon back into the pile behind him. Ganon tried to claw his way out, but the bags came tumbling down onto him.

"No! Not the weed! It burns!" he said, his hand flailing about. "You haven't seen the last of me!"

* * *

"And that is how it went."

Link blinked as his master slammed the giant book on his lap shut. His eyes widened, shimmering in the low light of the fire.

"Wow! Did all of that really happen?" he said, his hands clasped together.

"...Yes. That is exactly how I beat Ganondorf," his master said, his eyes wandering around the room.

"That's so cool! What happened after that?"

His master grunted, and the large chair he was seated on groaned as he got to his feet. "I think it's time for you to head to bed, wouldn't you say?" he said, and he put a hand on Link's shoulder.

"Aw. But we haven't finished yet!" Link groaned as his master guided him to the bed in the corner of his room.

"We'll finish some other day. You need to get up early tomorrow. After all, the king and his daughter are coming to visit, and I want this place to be spotless before I get back."

Link complained, but he didn't protest as his master draped his blankets over him. His master turned to leave, his footsteps growing softer as he crossed the room. Just as he reached the doorway, Link stopped him.

"Master?"

His master's shoulders fell. "What is it?"

"That plant you mentioned... the 'weed' plant... is it real? Or is it something you made up?"

Silence hung in the air. After a moment of hesitation, his master said, "It's nothing you need to worry yourself about."

"Oh. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight."

* * *

**Happy (late) April Fools!**

**I know I'm two days late, but I didn't want to botch the update of my other fic with something so silly. I would have uploaded this yesterday, but then my computer died.**

**Before you ask, yes, I took lines from the Zelda CDi games. And I also took some beats from Phineas and Ferb. What about it?**

**Anyway, the next chapter is the actual chapter.**


	6. The Welcoming Committee, Part 5

Link felt completely lost.

With all the chaos happening around him, the sound of explosions ringing over the tall buildings, the faint sirens constantly hanging in the air; it all blurred together. He couldn't tell what was happening, or where. He'd never set foot in a crowd bigger than several hundred people. This was all so very confusing.

The map wasn't helping either.

"So, we started here, right?" he said, pointing to an open green space, the words, "Smash Mansion", just below his finger.

Kirby nodded, and he popped a chip in his mouth.

"And we took a turn here, and another here." His finger traced a path over the roads running across the map.

The bag of chips in Kirby's hand rustled, and he pulled another out of it. Kirby held it in his other hand, turning it over before that one followed the first.

"We must have passed two streets before we–" Link hissed, and his head snapped to Kirby. "Do you think you could do that later?"

Kirby froze, a hand in his bag of chips. He looked around. Then he nodded, and he tossed the whole bag into his mouth. Saving it for later, Link supposed.

_How does that even work?_ he thought.

With a frustrated sigh, Link shook his head before that train of thought could take root.

"Where did you even find that?" he asked.

Kirby tried to keep his face flat. Link could tell, since it was a trick bad guys used to cover up their lies. His master had taught him to see through such things, and for a second, he saw Kirby's eyes flick to the ground.

"A-ha!" he said, jumping up. "You got it from the... ground..."

Seeing the disgusted look Link gave him, Kirby just shrugged.

"Well, you can get sick if you want to. Just pay attention." Link turned back to the map, keeping an eye on Kirby in case he tried to pull that bag of chips out again. "So, we passed this street on our way here, right?"

Kirby shook his head.

"Did we turn here, then?" Link asked, glancing over at Kirby.

Kirby tapped his head, frowning, before his eyes lit up and he nodded.

"So I think it's safe to say we should be somewhere here." Link tapped a spot on the map. Kirby nodded again.

"Where are we trying to go again?"

Kirby reached for the floor and picked up the handheld radio. The insides rattled as Kirby shook it.

"Downtown. Right." Link turned back to the map. His hand fell into his chin, before he asked, "Where is downtown again? It isn't marked here."

Kirby shrugged. Link huffed, and he folded his arms. So they were stuck, with no way of finding where all the trouble was happening. This city was so big, so they could probably get lost wandering the streets for years.

A gentle tug on his pants brought his attention to the ground. Kirby stood next to him, one hand on his pants, the other pointed down the street. Just between two buildings, Link could make out a bustling crowd making their way through.

"Ask them? We can't do that! They need to get to safety, and we'll only be getting in the way if we stop them."

Kirby pouted. He set his head at an angle, and he pointed up at the map.

"Okay, you have a point." Link groaned. "I guess we'll just ask the crowd."

The rubble clattered as Link kicked it away, turning toward the crowd. Something tugged on his leg before he could move, and he looked down. Kirby tugged again, but this time he pointed up at the label, "Smash Mansion" at the center of the map. His mouth was turned in a worried frown, and he frantically waved his hands over his head.

"Fox and the others?" Link said. "I'm sure they'll be fine. I mean, it can't be too bad back at the mansion, right?"

* * *

"I can't talk now, I'm busy. If you could just–Hello? Is anyone there?"

Fox cursed as the line cut off with a click. He shook the device in his hands, then tried to get the stupid thing to restart. When the signal remained as good as dead, he let out a frustrated groan.

Something tugged on his arm. Fox looked over, and he found Pikachu giving him a look. Pikachu nodded toward the device in his hands.

"Oh, this?" The device rattled in Fox's hand as he shook it. "I was talking to Link and Kirby. They said they're having problems on their end too." He chuckled. "Our first day on the job has already been quite eventful, wouldn't you–woah!"

Without warning, Pikachu yanked him back by the collar. The ground in front of him exploded into a mess of stone shards a second later. Fox eyed the hole in the ground, eyes wide. He looked back at Pikachu. This time, Pikachu shook his head.

"Right. Not the time."

Fox picked himself off the ground. From above, he heard a low hum. His reflector was in his hands in an instant. It came to life with an electric crackle. The very same second, something burst through the ceiling, showering him in splinters.

Fox batted it away, and the large cannonball crashed into a wall, leaving a massive dent. The sink stationed on it crumbled into a pile of white shards, and the pipe behind it sprayed water over the stall beside it. Fox watched as a puddle began to form on the floor, and he grimaced.

"I hope Master Hand won't kick us out for this," he said.

He reached for the door and pulled it open. The scene that greeted him was not a happy one. Planks of wood and clouds of dust were scattered everywhere. The walls looked like Donkey Kong had gone on a rampage through the halls, and several of the doors hung from a single hinge. The smell of smoke lingered in the air, the sharp smell the only thing that kept him sure that this wasn't all a nightmare.

Turning back to Pikachu, he said, "Where are the others?"

Pikachu nodded to his left. Fox followed his gaze, and at the end of the hall, he saw a set of stairs descend out of sight.

"Are they downstairs?" Pikachu gave him a sideways look, and Fox coughed. "Of course they're downstairs. Where else would they be?"

He turned around and broke into a sprint. He had barely taken three steps before a jolt struck his heel, and he stumbled. Fox flung a hand out, catching himself on a wall. As he pulled himself back to his feet, he looked over at Pikachu, confused.

"What?"

Again, Pikachu nodded to his left. This time, sparks flew out from his cheeks.

Fox shook his head. "There's another stairwell this way. It's a lot faster." He pointed over his shoulder.

A loud crash shook the hall. Fox's other hand grabbed hold of the wall, and his feet dug into the floor. A tree burst through the wall, tearing through the hallway until there was a giant hole in the middle of the floor. A mechanical whirring was only warning before the wall at the other end of the hall pulled back, revealing a line of cannons.

"We can still get through it, right Pikachu?" He looked over his shoulder, just in time to see Pikachu turn tail and run in the other direction.

Fox huffed. "The front stairs it is."

Behind him, the cannons went off with a collective bang. Fox narrowed his eyes, watching as a volley of cannonballs hurled through the air, growing bigger by the second. He raised his hand, his reflector still giving a low hum, and slammed it into a wooden beam beside him. The beam groaned, and the hall shuddered. He struck again, a shower of splinters pelting against his face. At last, the beam tumbled down. It crunched against the opposite wall, leaving a large gash in its wake before it came to a stop, barred directly across the hall.

One by one, the cannonballs slammed into the wooden beam. It trembled, bits of wood sprinkling down with each blow.

Fox didn't wait to see if it would hold. He spun on his heel and sprinted in the opposite direction as soon as he could, debris snapping under the weight of his metal feet.

He heard the beam finally snap. A quick glance over his shoulder, and he saw another barrage of cannonballs hurtle straight for him. His feet left the ground. His tail swished, and he spun in the air. Cannonballs flew past him, brushing over his coat, scraping against his feet. He landed in a crouch, completely unscathed.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the cannons glow. His fingers flexed. A smirk crept up his lips. Another blast shook the halls, and another volley flew toward him. Fox ducked and weaved, and they all hurled past him. At the last minute, he threw out his hand.

His fingers wrapped around a cannonball. The force behind it pulled him into a spin. So Fox let it go, back into the cannons.

The cannonball struck the wall with a loud thud. Cracks raced up the wall, like a blast of water against glass. Dust fell from the ceiling. The cannons rumbled again. They tried to fire one more time. The wall around them came down before they could, burying them under a pile of wood and rubble.

Fox's smirk grew into a grin. He huffed, and his hands fell to his hips. As his reflector fizzled out, returning to his hip, Fox glanced over his shoulder.

Pikachu met his gaze with an unimpressed stare, his mouth set into a straight line. Fox opened his mouth to reply. Pikachu's ear twitched, and he waved him off. He turned around and walked away without another word.

"I thought it was impressive," he mumbled. His eyes strayed to the destruction behind him. He gave an indignant huff before he took off after Pikachu.

* * *

**I know I'm a day late, but, as I said in the April Fools chapter (last one), my computer decided to just up and die yesterday, so I was unable to get this live. My computer seems to have a particular fondness for killing itself on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so if I don't upload for a week, that's probably why.**

**Anyway, I needed to take a short break from this fic. I was sort of running low on ideas, so I took some time off to think (again). This is going to be one of my more longer-running fics, after all. I'm back, now, so hopefully, these updates are going to be a bit more frequent, especially since I have nothing better to do. I mean, what else can I do, get out of the house?**

**This chapter was going to be longer, but then I realized this is probably a good place to leave it off. No point in stretching it out.**

**The next update will be on the 9th. The 10th if my computer decides to stop working with me. I wish you all well.**


	7. The Welcoming Committee, Part 6

Kirby rounded the corner, Greenie hot on his heels, to find the street crawling with strange purple soldiers, their glowing red eyes never straying from the giant building at the center. They held guns, all pointed up at the building like they were scared that it could attack them at any moment, though way up at the front, Kirby caught the gleam of several energy swords.

Squishies, Kirby decided to call them.

Up at the top of the tower, a bunch of big red birds, like the one he'd taken down minutes ago, circled in the sky. To Kirby's frustration, the Squishies didn't shoot them. Why were they just standing there?

He had half a mind to do the Squishies' job for them by beating those big red birds senseless himself. A breeze tickled Kirby's pink skin as he let energy draw in from around him. For a second, he felt weightless, like he could fly up the building in seconds. He glanced over to his left, just to see if Greenie agreed with him.

But Greenie was gone, running toward the crowd of Squishies.

Kirby sighed, and all the energy flushed out of him. Greenie disappeared into the crowd, his green clothes blending in too well with the Squishies' uniforms. He chased after Greenie, pushing his way through until Greenie came into sight again, this time standing in front of a big blue man in a heavy blue suit.

Already, some kind of argument had stirred up between them.

"I'm afraid I can't let you through," the man said. Space Knight, Kirby named him.

"We're the group Master Hand put together. We live in the center of the city," Greenie said. "We're supposed to help with this kind of stuff!"

"Protocol demands that I be notified of any additional help. Until then, we can handle this on our own." Space Knight crossed his arms, his position set in stone.

Kirby thought this whole argument was dumb. They didn't need Space Knight's permission to go help here! With an angry huff, Kirby tugged on Greenie's pant leg, trying to drag him away.

Greenie ignored him, stepping closer to Space Knight instead. "If you're doing so well, why aren't you doing anything?"

"If we could simply storm the building, we would have done it by now," Space Knight said with a scowl.

"What's stopping you, then?"

"They've got hostages. We can't go in there, not in the middle of negotiations. This is a very delicate situation, and I would appreciate it if you could refrain from distracting us."

"Poyo!" Kirby tried to cut in. Either no one heard him, or no one wanted to listen, both of which annoyed Kirby.

"Negotiate?" Greenie growled. "You don't negotiate with hostage-takers! I've dealt with their ilk, and if you negotiate, they always get away! You can sit around and talk as much as you want, but I'm going to do something about it!"

He turned and started toward the building. Before he could take a step, two energy blades crossed his path.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Space Knight spoke up from behind Greenie. "As I said, I can't let you near. It's for your own good."

In all the confusion, no one noticed Kirby draw his own sword. No one ever noticed him.

His blade swept through the air in a silver blur. Space Knight and Greenie stepped back, startled. Two energy blades tumbled to the floor, and they fizzled out.

Space Knight's eyes fell to Kirby. His eyes widened briefly, before he said, "Who is this–"

A loud boom drowned out whatever he'd been about to say. He turned to the sky. A deep growl, echoing off the sides of the buildings, low like thunder.

From all around him, Kirby heard the windows rattle. Black lightning lit up the sky, as a murky stew of dark clouds swirled overhead, blotting out the sun in seconds.

A series of bright flashes lit up the dark. A light popping followed. Something–several somethings, actually–hurled down, growing bigger and bigger until they grew into enormous black bullets, their grinning faces staring at them as they drew closer.

Space Knight cursed. "Get back!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the giant bullets slammed into the ground. Chunks of the road flew up into the sky, smashing through windows and crushing cars beneath their weight. Squishies lucky enough to avoid being squashed backed away, and they raised their guns.

Cutting through the clouds like a star through a storm, a giant ship emerged from the clouds. It wasn't sleek and shiny like the Halberd. Instead, it looked more like one of those old pirate ships, plowing through the air like it was parting waves. Its sides were studded with cannons, all of them pointing at the ground.

A hail of green gunfire lit the sky ablaze. Kirby watched as they streaked toward the flying ship, and his face broke out into a frown.

All this destruction, all this chaos; an alarm rang somewhere behind him, followed by an explosion. Someone needed to stop it from doing any more harm.

Silently, he called out to his warp star. A light tug inside him signaled its approach, and he leaped into the air.

Greenie pulled him back down before it could arrive. Kirby glanced up at him, confused. Greenie just nodded toward the building.

"Now's our chance," he said. "While they're distracted, we can sneak inside and save those hostages."

Kirby glanced back up at the flying ship. On one hand, fighting that looked a lot more fun.

On the other hand, they were supposed to work together, weren't they? That's what the Fox Boss said.

Standing a little straighter, Kirby nodded. Link didn't bother replying, already sprinting for the building.

Another explosion shook the ground. The Squishies all moved past Kirby, desperate to get away. Kirby squeezed through the rushing bodies, and when he finally broke through, he saw Link shoot a chain up the side of the building, and fly through one of the windows. Glass shards rained down on the ground below.

Eager to follow, Kirby sprinted after him, the ground a blur beneath his feet. He sprung into the air.

A bright yellow streak whizzed by overhead. Several Squishies fell down, bowled over by the wind. It wove between wave after wave of green energy and Bullet Bills, never once slowing.

Kirby felt the Warp Star slam into him. Seconds later, he was crashing through the same window Greenie had gone through.

* * *

Yoshi could have been doing a lot better. Behind him, the parts of the kitchen that hadn't been reduced to rubble was a sopping mess. His favorite (and only) pan had been ruined, bent in all kinds of weird ways. His arms hurt, and his eyes stung from all the dust in the air.

But he was still alive, so it could be a lot worse.

Another thud shook the manor. The cannons lined up before him let loose another volley. Behind him, Jigglypuff shrunk back, afraid. Yoshi's face hardened. He tightened his grip on his pan and pulled it back for a swing.

A red blur zipped over his shoulder. Yoshi stumbled back, barely stopping his swing from following through.

Fox put up his reflector, and the cannonballs flew back. Huge craters appeared on the wall. The wood groaned once, then collapsed into a pile of splintered wood.

Behind them, several more cannons popped out. They sparked and they sputtered, before they peeled from the sides. Pikachu stood behind them in a hole in the wall, his bright red cheeks spitting electricity.

Not to be outdone, Yoshi spun on his heel and flung his pan at a cannon just as it sprung from the wall. It wasn't as if the pan was going to last any longer.

To his surprise, the pan bounced off and disappeared into the debris.

"That's not going to work," Fox said. "These are Shotzos, imported directly from Dreamland. They're almost indestructible, built to withstand attacks from the likes of our little pink friend. If you want to bring them down..."

His blaster snapped out of its holster. He pulled the trigger thrice. A shower of splinters hit the floor. The Shotzo followed, leaving the wooden planks around it upturned.

"You're going to have to do some redecorating."

Yoshi frowned, giving Fox a questioning glare. Fox replied, "I read it in the manor's manuals."

Yoshi rolled his eyes. Not quite what he was asking for, his look said.

"Oh, you want to know how to stop this?"

Yoshi would have thought it quite obvious, with the chaos unfolding around them and everything, but he nodded.

"Oh, I've got no idea what's causing this," Fox said with a sheepish smile, "so I'm a little clueless on that."

Pikachu hopped down between them. He glanced up at Fox, and he pushed his own cheeks, letting electricity run down his paws.

"The electrical room?" Fox frowned, and he shook his head. "It's not the electrical room. I was in it when this all started, and whatever's left of that room certainly won't be able to keep anything like this running." When all eyes fell on him, he hastily added, "This isn't my fault, I promise! I was just performing the checks listed in the manual."

Pikachu's lips pulled down. He started to turn away, when Jigglypuff popped out in front of them. Waving her hands to catch their attention, she picked up two pieces of wood and held it above her head.

"A second electrical room?" A smile spread over Fox's face. "Now that you mention it, the manual did mention a second electrical room, but the only way to get to it is down that elevator."

He pointed over to an elevator far down the hall, the metal gleaming in the light pouring in through the cracks in the walls. Not a single dent had bent the metal, untouched by all the destruction around it, and the glow it gave was almost begging for them to approach, were it not for the hole in the floor between them.

Pikachu glanced down at the hole. Then he looked back at Fox, his expression flat.

Fox stared back.

Pikachu nodded down the hole, and Fox's face lit up.

"Or, we could go down this hole. That works too."

Pikachu's blank stare said he didn't expect anyone else would have needed to be a detective to figure it out.

Fox stepped up to the hole, his metal foot on the edge. He looked back at the rest of them, a grin burning brightly on his face.

"Well, let's see what secrets this place has in store for uuuuuus–" The floor snapped under his weight, and he trailed off as he disappeared into the depths.

Jigglypuff strolled past them and up to the hole, a spring in her step. She swept her gaze around the hall, huffed, and jumped after him.

Pikachu grabbed her by the foot and dragged her back before she could get in. Jigglypuff pouted, none too happy about it. Pikachu returned her harsh glare with a glare of his own. His eyes lifted to Yoshi standing above.

Make sure she doesn't try anything funny, his look said. Then he jumped into the hole himself, leaping between support beams until he too vanished from sight.

Yoshi looked down at Jigglypuff. She refused to look back, her brows furrowed, her eyes fixed on the hole before her. In her gaze, he saw a blaze that refused to be snuffed out, a desire to show that she could do anything she wanted, even if no one else thought so.

When she noticed him offer her his hand, she looked stunned. Yoshi's only response was a sympathetic smile. She would have gone down anyway, he knew. He would just make sure she was safe.

She seemed to know what he was trying to do, too. At first, she turned away. Once she took another look into the hole, her determined frown wavered. It was impossible to tell what was down there. Not with all the darkness shrouding it.

She jumped into his arm all too eagerly. Chuckling, Yoshi tucked her under his elbow. She shuffled around to make herself comfortable. Taking one last look at the smoldering remains of the manor, he stepped toward the pit.

He and Jigglypuff jumped after Fox and Pikachu, together.

* * *

**Small brain: My computer died last week, so I couldn't write.**

**Big brain: I'm turning this into a bi-weekly thing.**

**In all seriousness, I'm probably going to turn this into a bi-weekly thing. With Over the River drawing to a close, and with how long Mama Lucina is going to be, either this fic will go bi-weekly, or my new Saturday fic will be bi-weekly. Since I haven't been able to put as much as I'd have liked into these chapters, I'm leaning a little toward going on and off with this one, but I'll have to see.**

**Six chapters in and we're already almost finished. This is supposed to be the first part of the story, so a lot of it's just set up for the rest of the plot. That said, I do hope I've been able to keep it fun.**

**I know I've probably said it before, but I'll say it again. The only thing I can be sure about with the next chapter is that it'll come out on a Thursday. Maybe my computer will shoot me in the foot, maybe I'll decide to make this bi-weekly, at this point I can't really say. Anyway, I wish you all well, and stay safe!**


	8. The Welcoming Committee, Part 7

Link smashed the face of his shield into the door. The hinges gave away with an ear-splitting creak, and the door tumbled inside at an odd angle.

The second the dust cleared, a wall of fire raced toward him. Link rushed on to meet it. The fire crashed into his shield, and he felt the heat wash over him. Every step he took was a massive struggle against the flames, pushing through the tide of red and orange. Through the curtain of fire, he caught sight of three Koopa-Troopas, the red, bulbous plants in their hands holding him at bay with a stream of heat.

Gritting his teeth, Link stepped forward. The flames forced him back. Link dug his foot into the ground and pushed harder. Inch by inch, he began to move forward.

Then a pink blur moved across his line of sight.

In an instant, the flames vanished. Link lifted his eyes. Kirby stood before him, the flames curving inwards into his open mouth.

The Koopa-Troopas backed away, a nervous glance exchanged between them. Kirby just smiled, and he swallowed.

Link's hand came up to shield his eyes from the blinding flash.

The crackling came first, roaring and hissing. Heat washed over his shield, and he almost dropped it. His eyes flickered open.

A pillar of flame stood atop Kirby's head bathed the room in an orange glow as stood in the center of the debris. Pots hit the floor, spilling dirt and roots over the wrecked desks. The Koopa-Troopas turned tail and fled.

White sparks gushed out from Kirby's eyes. Link barely had time to put his shield up before he felt heat crash into him. A wave of fire surged over the upturned desks and paper scattered across the floor, painting the walls a searing-hot red. The Koopa-Troops yelled, tumbled to the floor, and lay still.

As he lowered his shield, Link grimaced. All around him, small fires licked the ruins of the office.

Kirby brushed past them as he hopped over to the unconscious Koopa-Troopas, and he stuck out his tongue. Link frowned as he walked past him.

"Don't get too comfortable," he muttered. "We still have a lot of stairs to climb."

Kirby's grin flickered and died. There'd be time for fun after they won the battle.

"Come on," Link said, motioning forward. "The stairs behind us have cut off. There's a stairwell up ahead that will take us higher."

He jogged over the flaming wreckage, clearing himself a path with the tip of his shield. The door leading inside leaned across the doorway, blocking the way.

Link's sword came down, and two halves clattered to the ground. His careful gaze traced up the stairs, climbing higher and into the dark. Keeping his sword before him, he stepped inside.

Above him, he saw something drop.

Kirby jumped to the front. His breath came out as a hot stream of fire. Orange light washed over the walls, revealing one–no, two bombs flying towards them.

Two explosions went off, one after the other. Link felt the walls tremble from the force, saw the walls light up. He cursed, and he threw his shield in front of Kirby.

Rubble pelted his shield's wooden face. As the shower of debris slowed to a trickle, Link let his arm fall back to his side and sighed.

Then he remembered that Kirby probably hadn't needed his help in the first place.

He looked back down, but the puffball was already climbing the stairs. Five steps up, Kirby turned around and gave him an expectant grin, as if to say, _Come on, what are you waiting for?_

Link kept his mouth shut. As Kirby turned away, Link let a scowl slip through.

_Am I even needed here?_ he thought bitterly. _I've got the best training in all of Hyrule, and all I've been is useless, useless, useless._

* * *

Greenie was being a real grouch.

Kirby didn't see why he was so mad. The last six minutes had been nothing but fight after fight, blood-pumping, heart-pounding action. Moving left and right, this way and that while blasting away the bad guys with waves of fire, he felt like a super Star Warrior! And Greenie watched it all with a big frown.

At first, Kirby thought he was one of those boring heroes who never smiled, like Meta Knight. But Greenie wasn't super old, so that couldn't be right.

As long as he had bad guys to stop, Kirby was happy. He just assumed everyone else was like that too. Maybe Greenie was just special.

Greenie's frowny face never lifted, even as he bashed down another door. He charged in with a yell. Kirby followed after him, ready to spew fire at any moment.

They were immediately greeted with a billion hammers flying toward them.

Kirby ducked to the right. Greenie dove left. They pressed their backs to a pair of upturned desks, waiting out the storm to the rhythm of hammers pounding the wood.

Greenie was the first to poke his head over the top. His eyes widened, and he yelped, before he slid back down. A hammer flew over his head a second later. It bounced off the wall, spun in the air for a bit, before it crashed into the floor.

A shower of dust sprinkled into his shiny blond hair. Greenie grumbled angrily, and he tried to brush it out.

As he shook the sawdust out of his hands, Greenie craned his head over his shoulder to look at Kirby. "The last stairway is up ahead. If we get past these guys, we'll reach the top," he said. "When I say go, you–"

Whatever he'd been about to say, it probably wasn't important. The sooner they stopped talking, the sooner they got to beat up the bad guys. They couldn't wait, they had to go go go!

Kirby flung himself over the desk. Flames burst to life on his arms, and he shot forward like a cannonball, leaving a trail of fire behind.

Hammers were batted away, barely slowing him down. Kirby caught a glance of the two hammer-turtles, their mouths open in shock.

Kirby caught each of them across the cheek with a flaming punch. Both of them flew away. The first crashed into a pile of upturned desks, disappearing beneath the rubble. The second flew headfirst into the opposite wall. A web of cracks burst from the impact.

Faintly, Kirby heard the building groan. For a moment, he expected the ceiling to just cave in.

A second passed. When it didn't collapse into a mess of rubble, he sighed in relief.

He turned around, a proud grin on his face. He thought he'd done well. Apparently, Greenie didn't agree.

"What was–"

_Crash!_

Kirby winced. He snuck a peek back to the doors. A big slab of stone that definitely wasn't there before blocked the way. Above, dust poured in from a hole in the ceiling.

So much for the ceiling not caving in.

Overhead, Kirby could hear faint voices start to yell. _"What was that?"_

_"Sounds like something just went BOOM! They're getting closer, can't you feel it?"_

_"Shouldn't we check it out?"_

_"Oh no no no. Our little welcoming committee won't do with less people, don't you see? They'll get lots of love up here. No need to extend our invitation any more."_

"And now they know we're here," Link growled. His gaze landed on Kirby, and the puffball was startled to see so much anger in his eyes. He hadn't done anything to make him this mad. Had he?

"If you had waited for me, we would still have a way up! Why did you have to run off and do your own thing?"

"Poyo!" Kirby puffed out his cheeks and tapped his wrist. They didn't have time for waiting, he tried to say. He grabbed Link's sleeve and tugged him forward.

"Kirby, stop!" Link pulled his hand away. "You can't just go ahead and do whatever you want. Not everyone has all your crazy powers, you know."

Kirby... wasn't quite sure what he meant by that. Everyone didn't need his powers, did they? Was there anything wrong with being super strong?

He opened his mouth to say something.

A shadow blocked out the sun. Kirby spun around, eyes wide. Outside, he saw a big red bird, growing bigger and bigger by the second. Its shriek resounded through the walls moments before it broke through the window.

The sound of shattering glass rippled through the air. A thousand shards blew into the room, scraping against Kirby's face. In a streak of fire, Kirby lunged forward. He felt the bird's talons brush over his head. Kirby spun to face the bird. He was just in time to see a set of talons close in on his face.

The ground cracked under him as the bird's talons pressed down. Kirby pushed back, his mouth tightened in concentration as his arms held the bird back.

Slowly, he felt the bird push him toward the open window. He wasn't worried, though. He had his Warp Star to fall back on if things got messy.

Then Kirby remembered Greenie was still there. He glanced back at Greenie, standing just behind the bird. His sword was out, its sharp tip pointed at the bird. Yet he didn't step in to help.

Kirby met his eyes. Greenie was giving him this weird look, one he couldn't quite place. Was it anger? Was it sadness? He didn't know.

Whatever it was, Greenie didn't stick around to say. Instead, he shook his head, turned, and climbed through the hole in the ceiling.

And then, Kirby understood.

He could blast away as many bad guys as he wanted, but he was part of a team now. He couldn't just run ahead like he was all alone, or he'd leave everyone else behind.

The bird cawed. It flapped its wings loudly, and it gave one last shove.

Kirby tried to stand strong, but all his feet found was air.

* * *

**Wow, characters splitting up? Is this a rom-com? (This isn't a rom-com, I swear. I don't have a problem, you have a problem)**

**Yes, I am back. Yes, I know I've spent way too long on this chapter that isn't even that long. I just haven't been in the mood to write this story, so it's all on me. Hopefully, the next chapter will be a little easier to write, because when this story gets fun to write, it can really be fun to write.**

**On the subject of update schedule, I decided to make this bi-weekly, alternating between this and my other Smash fic, _Updraft_. Hopefully, that'll help spur me into writing more for this story. As much as I want to get this story to move along, at this point I cannot rush it out, or my mind will stall and I'll get nothing done.**

**Until I push out another update, I wish you all well, and stay safe!**


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